Jordan Poised to Issue New Eurobond

The Jordanian government is planning to issue a Eurobond by 28 October, the country’s Finance Minister Umayya Tuqan said last week, on his return from Washington where he was attending the World Bank-IMF annual meetings in early October. Jordan was originally planning to launch this issue by mid-October, but was forced to delay due to the three-week budget shutdown in the US, the minister said without giving any details of the size of the issue. The ministry had earlier indicated that it was looking at a $1.5bn issue with a maturity of 7-10 years.

The new issue will be guaranteed by the US government, under a loan guarantee agreement signed with Jordan last August, whereby the US undertakes to guarantee repayment of principal and interest on the issuance of up to $1.25bn of seven-year Jordanian sovereign debt (MEES, 23 August). (CONTINUED - 796 WORDS)